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Freeman fish fry to help friend

Benefit dinner for Fort Morgan cancer victim scheduled for Saturday

By Stephanie Alderton

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
08/23/2016 07:59:09 PM MDT

Updated:
08/24/2016 11:31:06 AM MDT

The Freeman family's annual benefit Kentucky Catfish Fry, shown here in 2014, is this set for this Saturday night at the Fort Morgan Elks Club. This year, the proceeds will go to a local woman battling lung cancer. (Fort Morgan Times file photo)

Tony and Sandy Freeman, of Log Lane Village, know all about the power of food.

When their only son was born prematurely, weighing just 2 pounds 9 ounces, the Freemans' friends held a benefit dinner to help them pay their bills while he was in a Denver hospital. Ever since then, they've made it their mission to do the same for others by holding an annual Kentucky Catfish Fry benefit for a Morgan County resident in need. Their 19th fundraiser, to be held on Saturday, will raise money for their friend Loretta Miller, who is battling cancer.

Miller is a lifelong Fort Morgan resident. She's well-known to many in the community, having spent 25 years working as a Morgan County real estate agent and at the Wal-Mart and a 7-Eleven in town. She was diagnosed with lung cancer recently and has been unable to work for three months. The money raised through the fish fry will go to cover her co-pays and other medical expenses not covered by insurance.

"I appreciate it big-time," she said of the Freemans' fundraiser. "It'll help a lot."

As always, this year's dinner will feature fish delivered straight from a lake in Kentucky, where the couple's relatives live, as well as home-made barbecue and several sides. Tony Freeman claims Kentucky fish and barbecue sauce taste much better than anything available in Colorado, and he's received many compliments on the food during past benefit dinners.

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Last year's fish fry was a benefit for Mike Kanzler, a Fort Morgan man injured in a motorcycle accident. The Freemans served more than 200 people at that event, and they're expecting a similar turn-out this year. They serve the meal on a first-come, first-served basis, but so far they've never run out of food too early in the evening. By charging $10 per plate, they hope to raise at least $1,000 for Miller.

In addition to this annual event, the Freemans have also volunteered for other local charities, like Blessings in a Backpack and the Fort Morgan Humane Society. Tony is also a 37-year member of the Elks Lodge, and he's active in many of their community outreach activities. But everything the couple does for the community, they said, is out of gratitude for what their community did for them and their now 20-year-old son, Travis.

"He's our only boy," Sandy Freeman said. "We were married 23 years before we had him. We kind of think of him as our miracle."

There was a time when they weren't certain of Travis's future, but their neighbors helped them through it. Now they want to do the same for Miller and others going through similar hard times.

"We were blessed with our son, and we went through a lot with him," Tony Freeman said. "We just want to put back into the community, and that's what this is all about."

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